The 2010 RFT News Challenge

It was another banner year for St. Louis — a year in which we again realized that we have nothing in common with the rest of the state.

We want to end puppy mills. They don't. We're all for local income taxes. They say it's not up to us. We're blue. They're red. And, oh yeah, we're also "America's Most Dangerous City." Again.

Still, in a couple of ways we're all much safer thanks to a state legislature that stepped up to tackle the big issues. You know — banning fake marijuana and outlawing nudity at strip clubs.

Dan Zettwoch

But, hey, enough reminiscing. It's time for you to put on the old thinking cap and see how much local trivia you've retained from the past twelve months.

OFFICIAL RULES: There are no rules. Except one: If you win, you'll have to arrange to come to the RFT office in person to claim your prize. Um, make that two: Only one entry per household. Oh, and you have to supply a real name and phone number where we can reach you in the unlikely event that you win. If there's a tie, we'll come up with something. And, you know, void where prohibited and all that.

So answer the following questions to the best of your ability and, we'll publish the results within the next couple weeks.

3. A Rams fan fell from the bleachers at Edwards Jones Dome and was hospitalized following last season's final game. Why did he fall?
A. Suicide was better than watching the '09 Rams.
B. He slipped on a banana peel.
C. Someone has to catch those passes.
D. He was trying to get a shoe thrown by a player.

4. What prompted police in Wellsville to search the car of John Henry, a repeat methamphetamine offender, when they pulled him over last January?
A. He was smoking meth behind the wheel.
B. He'd written a profane message addressed to Sgt. Jason Grellner, one of Missouri's top meth cops, on his camouflage overalls.
C. Failure to yield.
D. He had too many "Pissing Calvin" decals on his rear windshield.

5. What's the name of the new meth manufacturing process that's increasingly being spotted by Missouri law enforcement?
A. Stove Top Stuffing.
B. Hamburger Helper.
C. Shake and Bake.
D. Mac 'n' Cheese.

6. What excuse did Winfield police officer Bud Chrum give his colleagues when they arrested him trying to purchase cocaine?
A. He needed a change from smoking pot.
B. He wanted to know the actual street value of drugs.
C. He was preparing for an undercover assignment.
D. He needed to replace police evidence that he'd ruined with a spilled liquid.

7. In January, three men from southwest Missouri kidnapped a man from New Jersey and drove him all the way back to the Show-Me State — only to discover what?
A. They were supposed to kneecap him, not kidnap him.
B. They'd kidnapped the wrong man.
C. No one was willing to pay his ransom.
D. Missouri has the worst rest stops.

8. John Hill, a salesman for the luxury car dealership St. Louis Motorsports in Chesterfield, was arrested in February. Why?
A. He was caught rolling back odometers.
B. He tried to pass off a $150,000 Bentley as a "clunker" in the government's Cash for Clunkers program.
C. He posted YouTube videos of himself driving the dealership's Lamborghini over 140 mph on Highway 40.
D. Jealous of the dealership vehicles he got to drive, the police set him up.

9. Why was Rex S. Barstow Sr. banished from the Missouri town of Clark?
A. He'd racked up too many speeding tickets.
B. Foot odor.
C. He paid a teenager to knock down a statue of Clark native Omar Bradley.
D. He's more of a Lewis guy.

10. The Blimpie restaurant chain was sued in Madison County, Illinois, this year on allegations that its "Super Stacked" sandwiches did not have what crucial ingredient?
A. Any flavor.
B. Actual meat.
C. Double the amount of meat.
D. Real horseradish sauce.

11. How did St. Louis resident Zynthia Holmes get out of jury duty this year?
A. She told the jury supervisor she'd return with a gun and start shooting if she had to serve another day.
B. She bribed court staffers.
C. She knew the prosecutor.
D. She was actually the defendant in the trial for which she'd been called to serve.

Match each question with the correct numerical answer:
12. Of the 100,000 people estimated to have attended Soulard's Mardi Gras last February 13, how many got DUIs from St. Louis police?13. A Florissant man caught a world-record catfish in July while fishing the Missouri River near the Columbia Bottoms. How many pounds did the monster weigh?
14. At a St. Charles County Council meeting in July, Councilman Joe Brazil argued that the county needed to ban bicycles on rural highways because fourteen people had died on county roads in the past sixteen months. How many cyclists actually died on county roadways during that time frame?
15. Financier Rex Sinquefield's Proposition A will require St. Louis and Kansas City to hold regular votes on local earning taxes. Rounded to the nearest dollar, how much did Sinquefield spend per vote on Prop A's victory?
A. 5.
B. 9.
C. 130.
D. 0.